Assistant Secretary of War, 1937-40
As Assistant Secretary of War from 1937 to 1940, Johnson advocated Universal Military education and training, rearmament, and expansion of military aviation. He feuded with isolationist Secretary of War Harry Hines Woodring over the sending of armaments to Great Britain. In mid-1940, after Woodring's resignation and the fall of France revealed the precarious state of the nation's defenses, Franklin D. Roosevelt bypassed Johnson for the position of Secretary of War, instead choosing Henry Stimson. Having aspired to the position of Secretary, which he felt he had earned, Johnson felt betrayed by Roosevelt.
During the war, Johnson had no major responsibilities within the government involving military matters, though he did agree to participate in the Roosevelt administration's war mobilization of U.S. industry. Later, he served as Alien Property custodian for the American operations of the German chemical giant I. G. Farben. In 1942, Johnson briefly served as the president's personal representative in India, until an intestinal illness caused him to resign his post and return to the United States.
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